Compare And Contrast Mesopotamia And The Indus Valley

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Most of the world’s first civilizations were river-based. Mesopotamia and the Indus Valley are just two of the many civilizations that relied on nearby rivers. Mesopotamian civilization was first established in 8000 B.C.E., located mostly around modern day Iraq, but also stretched to parts of Iran, Syria, and Turkey, and lasted until around 500 B.C.E. The Indus Valley was located in what is now Pakistan and parts of Northwest India. The Indus Valley arose in 2600 B.C.E. and was concluded at 1900 B.C.E. The Mesopotamian and the Indus Valley civilizations demonstrated many similarities and differences in religion, technology, and the legacy they left behind.
Like many other early river civilizations, both Mesopotamia and the Indus Valley had a polytheistic religious system, or in other words praised multiple gods. In Mesopotamia, they worshiped their gods in temples they built and had male priests lead religious services while being well paid to do so. Often times male sons would get the job of appeasing the gods for the whole society passed down to them from their father. People in Mesopotamia are also believed to have had a confidence in magic and used amulets as an object …show more content…

How these two civilizations ended are very different. Mesopotamia was split into Babylonia and Assyria which ultimately lead to the civilization 's downfall. The people in the area were becoming poor and had difficulties trading with other civilizations. It is a mystery how the Indus Valley fell. Some historians believe that the descent was natural and that maybe a change in the environment might have made it harder to harvest food for such a large population. Another theory is that the Aryans wanted the land and wiped out the Indus people. Even though Mesopotamia and the Indus Valley had different elements lead to their undoing they share a legacy that comes when talking about how smart and developed the first civilizations

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